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What is Raptor Recovery of Nebraska?

In 1976, the Raptor Recovery Center was organized as a project of the Wachiska Audubon Society of Lincoln. Since its beginning, the Raptor Recovery Center has treated more than 6,000 birds of prey, and better than 50 percent of those have been released back to the wild. This makes the percentage of birds released one of the highest in the nation. In the summer of 2000, the center changed its name to Raptor Recovery Nebraska. RRN is a 501-C-3 education non-profit organization and the only group in the state of Nebraska permitted by the state and federal government to rehabilitate orphaned or injured raptors. The all-volunteer organization works with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and animal control agencies to respond to reports of injured or orphaned raptors throughout the state. Once contacted by a resident or conservation officer in possession of an injured bird, RRN arranges for a volunteer to pick up the bird and relay it to the center near Lincoln or to the nearest trained rehabilitator. Emergency treatment is provided and the bird is stabilized for final transport to the RRN center. Raptors needing surgery are seen by a veterinarian or the center director, then rehabilitated so they can be released back into the wild. At RRN, injured and orphaned raptors receive medical treatment and care and are restored to health, banded and released. Some birds have been so severely damaged that they cannot be fully rehabilitated. Non-releasable birds are channeled into breeding programs, recruited as “foster parents” for young orphans, utilized in research and featured in the center’s educational programs. Each year, RRN receives hundreds of injured or orphaned birds of prey—because many people persist in trying to destroy them. RRN works endlessly to teach the public about raptors and habitat conservation by offering educational programs across the state.